The Samsung Money by Sofi card is a money management account. That means, it’s a checking account. The account functions a lot like the SoFi Money management account, because it’s managed by SoFi. The only thing that really makes it a “Samsung” product is that it’s only available for Samsung Galaxy S6 (or newer) phone users.
Breakdown:
- No Sign Up Bonus (lottery system for up to $1000 Samsung dollars)
- Experian soft pull
- Eligibility: Can’t have had SoFi Money and must have a Samsung Galaxy S6 or newer
- Apply: Can only apply for the Samsung card through the Samsung Pay app
- Benefits: None?
- Alternatives: Many better options like Charles Schwab
- Thoughts: I don’t see why anyone would want to get this
Are you eligible for Samsung Money by SoFi?
Before signing up for the Samsung money management account, there are a few things you need before being eligible to apply:
- To be eligible for the Samsung Money card you need to have a Samsung Galaxy Phone (S6 or newer)
- You can’t get the Samsung Money card if you are already a SoFi checking member. The Samsung Money card is managed by SoFi and at the time of launch they cannot manage overlapping data.
Signing Up:
To get the Samsung Money debit card, you can only sign up through the Samsung Pay App which is available on your Samsung Galaxy phone (S6 or later). If you don’t have a Samsung Galaxy, you are not eligible to sign up. But hey, that’s okay. You’re not missing out on much. If you still want something similar you can get the SoFi checking account which works on any device.
Sign Up Bonus:
“Open and fund an account today, and you will be eligible for a chance to win $1,000 in Samsung Rewards points toward a Galaxy S20 5G, QLED 4K TV, or your favorite Samsung product.”
The sign up bonus is a lottery system. Not really a sign up bonus to win a chance to get a discount on a Samsung product. When compared to SoFi bank bonus, you get $25 for signing up and funding the account. That’s also just okay, but that’s why you should look at the bigger banks because they have REALLY good banking bonuses. US Bank, Wells Fargo, Chase, Schwab and other big banks will give you $100 to $400 just for signing up and meeting their sign up bonus requirements.
SoFi Sign Up Bonuses:
Samsung Money by SoFi is (clearly) managed by SoFi. For the exact same type of account with less restrictions, you can just go directly to SoFi and they have even better sign up bonuses.
- SoFi Money (Checking Account): Get $25 after funding your account with $500. Pretty much 5% on your money and you can close the account after getting your bonus
- SoFi Invest: Get $50 in stock after signing up and adding $1000 to your investing account. Another easy 5% on your money
- SoFi Personal Loans: Get a $300 bonus for using SoFi Loans. Obviously, it depends on your rate and how much you’re borrowing to see if it’s worth it. I have not tried to get this bonus.
- SoFi Student Loans: Refinance your student loan with SoFi and get a $300 bonus. This can be a great deal if SoFi offers a lower interest rate against your student loan.
Getting Approved:
To get approved for the Samsung Money by SoFi account, you’ll need to have a Samsung Galaxy S6 (or newer Samsung phone) and you CAN NOT have been a member of SoFi Money. Since SoFi manages the new Samsung Money customers, at the time of the Samsung Money launch they cannot support having separate accounts for SoFi customers AND Samsung Money customers.
At this time (July 2020), Samsung Money does not have a way of manually reviewing ID Documentation. So if something does not match according to the data they reference against Experian, you won’t be able to get approved for a Samsung Money account.
The Samsung Money Card:
Much like the Apple Card (credit card), Samsung has taken a very similar approach by making their debit card look very sleek with no actual account numbers on it.
Alternatives to the Samsung Money by SoFi
- Charles Schwab Checking Account: I’ve been a big fan of Charles Schwab since I opened my checking account with them. This was the original bank that charge no ATM fees anywhere in the world and offered interest (0.01%) on the money sitting in your checking account.
- In my actual experience of using the Charles Schwab debit card internationally, it’s a lot of trial and error. Some ATM’s will accept my Charles Schwab card while many more will not. In Japan and Taiwan, my Schwab debit card only works at 7-Eleven ATMs. Overall, I’ve never needed to go to a branch in-person because the online customer service has always been outstanding.
- Sign Up Bonus $100: It’s pretty much a free $100 since there are no minimum account balances (maybe just $1?) and there are no fees to keep the account open.
- Sign Up Here
Bank Accounts with cash Sign Up Bonuses:
- Aspiration $100
- Chase $200
- Citi Bank $200+
- PNC $300
- Schwab $100+
- SoFi $25+
- US Bank $300
- More Here
Samsung Pay vs Apple Pay/Google Pay
- Apple Pay and Google Pay use NFC for transactions (near-field communication)
- Can only be used at places that support NFC transactions
- Samsung Pay using MST: Magnetic Secure Transmission
- Mimics the magnetic swipe of a credit card which means you can use Samsung Pay ANYWHERE a credit card is accepted. But NFC is becoming increasingly more common in the world.
Does the Samsung Money card help improve my credit? No. The Samsung Money card is not a credit card and your account balances are not reported to the credit bureaus.
You should never use a debit card for purchases. Here’s why: Cashback, purchase protection, extended warranty, fraud protection (card numbers leaked). For these same reasons, you should get a good credit card that has these features.
Why you should get the Samsung Money by SoFi debit card? I really don’t see any benefit so I can’t say why you should get it.
Why you shouldn’t get the Samsung Money by SoFi debit card? There’s no sign up bonus. You can get a sign up bonus for a checking and/or savings account with most big banks. Pretty much their giving you money so you can become a customer and in the long run they plan to make money off you that way. In the short-term side, you can always close your account after getting the bonus and meeting any “keep this bank account open for x months” requirements. Free money!
Key points:
- Only available for Samsung Galaxy owners (S6 or newer)
- No account fees as of yet but are “subject to change” in the fine print…but yes there are fees! There are out-of-network ATM fees.
- ATM withdrawals are through the Allpoint network. Which means you can use the ATM with no fees at CVS and Walgreens. Additionally, Allpoint only has ATMs in the United States, Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom and Australia. That’s not worldwide. I don’t think anyone would describe “worldwide” as 5 countries.
- The interesting part is that the actual SoFi card has no ATM fees anywhere. All fees are reimbursed.
- Can freeze card, report it stolen, report suspicious activity all in the app.
- Feature Review: Not a very unique feature. You can do this with most banks. If not in a banking app, you can do this by calling the bank.
- Money management data.
- No details yet. But I can only assume this is to manage the money going in and out of your checking account. I absolutely recommend mint.com to track all of your finances since you can connect checking, savings, credit cards and investing accounts for most banks.
- Interest rate on money in the account 0.02%. This is pretty good since most banks will give you nothing. But you’re not going to get rich off this. For every $100 you have sitting in your account, you’re getting 2 cents every year. At this point I would recommend researching in investing in ETFs.
- Accounts are FDIC insured for up to $1.5 million dollars. Most bank accounts are only insured up to $100,000 so this is great if you are rich. But I don’t think any rich person would leave $1.5 million dollars sitting in a debit account that they can only access through their phone. FYI, $1.5 million dollars would make $300 in interest every year.
- Samsung Rewards system is earned through Samsung Pay
- 0.5% cashback for 1-9 transactions
- 1% cashback for 10-19 transactions
- 1.5% cashback for 20-50 transactions
- No cashback earned transactions more than 50 (seems like it?)
Mastercard Benefits:
- 15% off airport concierge services (useless)
- Cell phone protection: Up to $200 (before $25 deductible) per claim if your phone is accidentally damaged or stolen. Can make up to 2 claims per year. (pretty useful)
- Mastercard golf: discounts on golf courses and ground passes for PGA tournaments (useless for most people)
- SoFi member experiences: Exclusive experiences with no actual info available yet. Probably cause of the people killing virus.
- Enhanced Security: Credit monitoring (good, but useless)
- Purchase Assurance: New items purchased with your Samsung Money debit card that are damaged/stolen within 90 days of being purchased are eligible for reimbursement up to $1000 per claim. (REALLY GOOD)
- Extended Warranty: “May” double the original manufacturer’s warranty. (The details aren’t very clear, but incredibly useful when available)
TLDR
Will you be applying for the Samsung Money by SoFi card? I won’t and I would strongly recommend another checking account that at least comes with a sign up bonus. It’s better for you to have a checking account with a major bank since they have better sign up bonuses and offer “pre-approved” credit cards to their existing customers.